The relationship of attitudes toward science, cognitive style, and self-concept to achievement in chemistry at the secondary school level

There is currently a crisis in science education in the United States. This statement is based on the National Science Foundation's report stating that the nation's students, on average, still rank near the bottom in science and math achievement internationally. ^ This crisis is the background of the problem for this study. This investigation studied learner variables that were thought to play a role in teaching chemistry at the secondary school level, and related them to achievement in the chemistry classroom. Among these, cognitive style (field dependence/independence), attitudes toward science, and self-concept had been given considerable attention by researchers in recent years. These variables were related to different competencies that could be used to measure the various types of achievement in the chemistry classroom at the secondary school level. These different competencies were called academic, laboratory, and problem solving achievement. Each of these chemistry achievement components may be related to a different set of learner variables, and the main purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of these relationships. ^ Three instruments to determine attitudes toward science, cognitive style, and self-concept were used for data collection. Teacher grades were used to determine chemistry achievement for each student. ^ Research questions were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients and t-tests. Results indicated that field independence was significantly correlated with problem solving, academic, and laboratory achievement. Educational researchers should therefore investigate how to teach students to be more field independent so they can achieve at higher levels in chemistry. ^ It was also true that better attitudes toward the social benefits and problems that accompany scientific progress were significantly correlated with higher achievement on all three academic measures in chemistry. This suggests that educational researchers should investigate how students might be guided to manifest more favorable attitudes toward science so they will achieve at higher levels in chemistry. ^ An overall theme that emerged from this study was that findings refuted the idea that female students believed that science was for males only and was an inappropriate and unfeminine activity. This was true because when the means of males and females were compared on the three measures of chemistry achievement, there was no statistically significant difference between them on problem solving or academic achievement. However, females were significantly better in laboratory achievement. ^

Parent involvement on school advisory councils: A process evaluation at the middle school level

Increasing parental involvement was made an important goal for all Florida schools in educational reform legislation in the 1990's. A forum for this input was established and became known as the School Advisory Council (SAC). To demonstrate the importance of process and inclusion, a south Florida school district and its local teacher's union agreed on the following five goals for SACs: (a) to foster an environment of professional collaboration among all stakeholders, (b) to assist in the preparation and evaluation of the school improvement plan, (c) to address all state and district goals, (d) to serve as the avenue for authentic and representative input from all stakeholders, and (e) to ensure the continued existence of the consensus-building process on all issues related to the school's instructional program. ^ The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent and in what ways the parent members of one south Florida middle school's SAC achieved the five district goals during its first three years of implementation. The primary participants were 16 parents who served as members of the SAC, while 16 non-parent members provided perspective on parent involvement as “outside sources.” Being qualitative by design, factors such as school climate, leadership styles, and the quality of parental input were described from data collected from four sources: parent interviews, a questionnaire of non-parents, researcher observations, and relevant documents. A cross-case analysis of all data informed a process evaluation that described the similarities and differences of intended and observed outcomes of parent involvement from each source using Stake's descriptive matrix model. A formative evaluation of the process compared the observed outcomes with standards set for successful SACs, such as the district's five goals. ^ The findings indicated that parents elected to the SACs did not meet the intended goals set by the state and district. The school leadership did not foster an environment of professional collaboration and authentic decision-making for parents and other stakeholders. The overall process did not include consensus-building, and there was little if any input by parents on school improvement and other important issues relating to the instructional program. Only two parents gave the SAC a successful rating for involving parents in the decision-making process. Although compliance was met in many of the procedural transactions of the SAC, the reactions of parents to their perceived role and influence often reflected feelings of powerlessness and frustration with a process that many thought lacked meaningfulness and productivity. Two conclusions made from this study are as follows: (a) that the role of the principal in the collaborative process is pivotal, and (b) that the normative-re-educative approach to change would be most appropriate for SACs. ^

Parent involvement on school advisory councils: a process evaluation at the middle school level

Increasing parental involvement was made an important goal for all Florida schools in educational reform legislation in the 1990's. A forum for this input was established and became known as the School Advisory Council (SAC). To demonstrate the importance of process and inclusion, a south Florida school district and its local teacher's union agreed on the following five goals for SACs: (a) to foster an environment of professional collaboration among all stakeholders, (b) to assist in the preparation and evaluation of the school improvement plan, (c) to address all state and district goals, (d) to serve as the avenue for authentic and representative input from all stakeholders, and (e) to ensure the continued existence of the consensus-building process on all issues related to the school's instructional program. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent and in what ways the parent members of one south Florida middle school's SAC achieved the five district goals during its first three years of implementation. The primary participants were 16 parents who served as members of the SAC, while 16 non-parent members provided perspective on parent involvement as "outside sources." Being qualitative by design, factors such as school climate, leadership styles, and the quality of parental input were described from data collected from four sources: parent interviews, a questionnaire of non-parents, researcher observations, and relevant documents. A cross-case analysis of all data informed a process evaluation that described the similarities and differences of intended and observed outcomes of parent involvement from each source using Stake's descriptive matrix model. A formative evaluation of the process compared the observed outcomes with standards set for successful SACs, such as the district's five goals. The findings indicated that parents elected to the SACs did not meet the intended goals set by the state and district. The school leadership did not foster an environment of professional collaboration and authentic decision-making for parents and other stakeholders. The overall process did not include consensus-building, and there was little if any input by parents on school improvement and other important issues relating to the instructional program. Only two parents gave the SAC a successful rating for involving parents in the decision-making process. Although compliance was met in many of the procedural transactions of the SAC, the reactions of parents to their perceived role and influence often reflected feelings of powerlessness and frustration with a process that many thought lacked meaningfulness and productivity. Two conclusions made from this study are as follows: (a) that the role of the principal in the collaborative process is pivotal, and (b) that the normative-re-educative approach to change would be most appropriate for SACs.